Taipei Mayor Hau Lung-bin (甄?棄) yesterday expressed confidence in his chances of winning December*s Taipei mayoral election despite a poll that suggested former premier Su Tseng-chang (妶?荻) of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) would beat him.
Hau said Su would be a ※respectable§ opponent as one of the DPP*s presidential hopefuls and he would solicit support from residents by presenting solid municipal policies.
※The final opinion poll would be the real election, and I am confident that my administration will win the support of a majority of Taipei residents,§ Hau said.
Conducted on Friday by the Chinese-language China Times, the poll surveyed about 800 Taipei residents. Hau received a support rate of 38 percent, just behind Su*s 41 percent.
Su topped DPP Chairperson Tsai Ing-wen (絆荎恅) and former premier Yu Shyi-kun (蚔屧?) as the preferred DPP mayoral candidate. Twenty-eight percent of participants said Su should represent the DPP to run in the election, while 22 percent supported Tsai.
In the pan-blue camp, 38 percent said Hau was the best candidate to represent the KMT, followed by Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Ting Shou-chung (間忐笢) with 22 percent.
The poll results suggested Hau would win the mayoral election if his opponent were Tsai, with 42 percent over Tsai*s 34 percent. He would also secure the victory if competing against Yu, the poll results showed.
Taipei City Government Spokeswoman Chao Hsin-ping (猣陑そ) said the city government was ※a little surprised§ by the newspaper*s poll, as an internal poll conducted by the city government showed that Hau would beat Su in a mayoral election.
The poll conducted last month by the city government showed Hau*s support rate was 41.4 percent, while Su gained the support of 24.2 percent.
Hau may also have to worry about competition from within the KMT as Ting yesterday said he would consider running for mayor.
Asked for comment on his support rating, Ting said he would seriously consider entering the election if the party needed him and Taipei residents supported his candidacy. Ting said he was confident that he would win the election on behalf of the pan-blue camp even if he were running against DPP Chairperson Tsai Ing-wen (絆荎恅).
Meanwhile, KMT Legislator Lo Shu-lei (縫抃濟) urged Hau to ※work harder§ given the difference in Hau and Su*s ratings.
※Over the years, [the city government] has failed to resolve many problems including the Maokong Gondola. The city government really has to work harder,§ Lo said.
※If residents cannot feel [the city government*s efforts], they may look forward to a change [of power],§ she said.
ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY FLORA WANG
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